Aircraft
Britten-Norman Targets Eight New-build Islanders Annually
UK production expansion follows inaugural flight of latest Bembridge-built unit
Britten-Norman Islander
Britten-Norman has resumed production of its Islander utility aircraft at its UK factory at Bembridge.

UK aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman is back in the business of building domestically-manufactured regional aircraft. For the first time in almost 60 years, a complete Islander has rolled off the company’s newly-repatriated production line, marking what the privately-owned comapny hopes will be a new era of manufacturing—albeit at lower rates of production plans than initially announced. 

Based at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, Britten-Norman’s final assembly line is looking to ramp up annual output to eight twin-engine Islanders by 2029: comprising four B-N2 and four larger BN2T-4S models. This follows a significant period of change for the company, which despite repatriating its production line back home from Romania in 2023, has so far failed to reach the eight annual builds previous CEO William Hynett had initially targeted within 24 months.

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